I’m guessing these are less than 1/16th thick. I imagine any wallowed out hole might need a little toothpick filler but wouldn’t expect much impact on kickers or pops. Flippers should have plenty of height in them to accommodate.

played 2 different titles with those hardtops. they look ok but game play is just not my cup of tea. they just don't feel right. even more so than a clear coated pf. i think maybe it is the fact that a clear is stuck to the wood were the hard top is just screwed in at a few places and others are not.

I played one also and had the same feeling. Just doesn't feel right. Can the hardtop be glued down to the playfield like a sheet of Formica?

don't confuse hardtop with playfield protector. hardtop has art printed on the back and is fully adhered to the stripped and sanded (no art) playfield. playfield protector is basically the same clear material that floats over your playfield to smoothen dips and bumps and protect.

I'm surprised you sent it out for clear, since CPR has already done so. I wasn't sure about that since they didn't explicitly say that it was cleared in the description of the OC playfield on their site. But once I opened the box, I was happy to see that it does have a nice coat of clear, same as their SS offerings. I asked them about this several times via email but never got a response; they're not the best at customer service unfortunately.

Bow and Arrow flash motor unit. The main shaft was seized. Split the motor case and cleaned the gears, but the case bushing stuck on the shaft. Managed to remove it, and then cleaned the shaft. Now to put it back together...

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Finally finished playfield clearcoating after touchup and going through playfield mechanicals. OXO is now officially in the lineup. What a fun pin!

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Just picked one of these up in rough shape and am worried I’ll have to do this. No lights cycling. Haven’t even pulled the glass yet but I assume rivets need to be ground off in order to split it? If so, how did you go about re sealing it? Any tips/ suggestions you can share?

Would make a great tech thread if there isn’t one already.

I used Clay's guide @ pinrepair.com in the score motors section as a reference and drilled instead of punching out the rivets. The case just came apart, it wasn't glued. I used score reel EOS switch screws to reassemble. Not pretty, but it works.

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Thanks, I should have assumed clay would have covered it. That guide has saved a legendary amount of pins. Im still kinda dreading it though...

Wizard playfield all repopulated. This hardtop is so nice. Hope it holds up.20210117_135758 (resized).jpg

Awe man I have my work cut out for me on this player unit. Ultrasonic cleaner here I come.

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And Evaporust.

Yup. Evaporust actually works well in the ultrasonic too. Evaporust run first followed by degreaser/water run.

Restoring a Williams Big Deal currently. Back box, bottom control board, and bottom playfield have all been thoroughly gone over. Topside playfield has been cleaned and is ready for touch ups.

Before and after pics of pf below.

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Murphdom

Make sure your tetanus shot is up to date!

Alberto

Sharp. What did you use for cleaning?

First - Vacuumed heavily with brush attachment

Second - Deep clean with novice 2 (3 if sticky or stained) on micro fiber cloth. Always finishing with 2 as 3 won't buff to shine.

Third - For heavily noticeable ball swirls use naptha and magic eraser. You have to pick your battles with this step as it could be never ending, to the point of damage or hair pulling exhaustion. Idea is to make the swirls less noticeable. This step made a huge difference on the white, blue and yellow areas. You then repeat step 2 with Novus 2, which removes the residue and brings back a glossy sheen.

Thanks for running through those details for me. I’ve got some major ball swirl on the yellow parts of a pf and this helps me figure out how to tackle it.

Wizard completed and working 100%. Into the lineup it goes.

The hardtop plays like a normal playfield to me. Perfectly flat so no sunken insert issues.

Very preliminary start on a 1960 Gottlieb Merry Go Round. Playfield is rough. A bit of cleaning and assessing where I'm going with this one today.20210120_185423 (resized).jpg20210121_125253 (resized).jpg20210121_131729 (resized).jpg

Inspiration for you. Just sold the one I restored. If your playfield is like mine, mine had much heavier black lines in the clear coat. However it extremely thick and those long black lines will clean up with enough magic eraser work. I never wore through to the paint.

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I installed my new reproduction back glass. Very bright colors.

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Here it is lit up. I just played my first game with the new glass 250240, one extra ball and two free games. Seems like it made me play better.

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Curious - does he strip off CPR's clearcoat, or does he spray on top of it? Since the cc from CPR isn't fully cured when shipped, I was wondering how that was handled.

Guess the pin beneath all that black!

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He lets it cure then sands it off. His process takes 3-4 months.

I'm doing a Bally Gold Rush right now, mostly done with a Zip A Doo.... 60's and early 70s Ballys are starting to grown on me.

"Sanitizing" the cabinet on the Gold Rush, sometimes the insides are pretty yucky. Pics of Gold Rush are after a few vacuums and paint brush dusting and light washing.

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Maybe it's all that Herb Silvers style blinged out chromed metal work!

Ballys can be hit or miss. Some really fun games in there and some turds. I've always liked them but I'm kind of in the same boat now. Growing on me. I've got four now and while they're all good players, especially Old Chicago which I just love, the games with Dave Christensen's art are just fun to look at, especially the back glasses. Really nice looking playfield on that one

I can't quite tell if that's actually a Herb job or just highly polished. I've actually kind of moved away from all that bright chrome a bit. It is pretty but when the upper arch gets chromed I think that's a bit too far.

Playfield looks beautiful!

I got this yesterday. Will need some work but all the parts are there.

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Nice looking Mayfair. I have one that was restored (by someone else) about 10 years ago. Great game.

Looks great, I have only cracked 200,000 once. I put incandescent flashers behind the two space modules. Really adds a nice touch. Also as much as I love the game, has among the worst pop caps ever. Replaced them with transparent red caps, I know it is not original and the originals are in the coin box if a future owner wants to change, but it looks really nice - better than the pics.

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Thanks did this one a year or so ago. It was pretty rough but the playfield was nice once I got the inserts straightened away. New Webb backglass.

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Rexamining all switches, contacts and player up unit. Night Rider.

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Tried to give this project away for next to nothing a while back. It had great bones.
No takers, so i thought i would just do it and then see if i could find it a home.

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working on a Capersville which has always been a must-have pinball for me. everything from the deep and maybe the deepest EM rule set to the colors, gameplay, multiball, and art has always grabbed my attention. over the years i obtained 3 (2 English and one German) machines and sent off one playfield to be professionally restored and clear coated. now the reassembly has begun with some new parts as needed such as flipper rebuild kits and pop bumper caps. i've decided to get it all together and play it and put off some of the resto until later such as whitening all the playfield posts if they're ABS and repainting the cab. i've got the head pretty much complete and disassembling 21 score reels was tedious but necessary. the original backglass is in good shape but i have a repro from bg resto. the playfield assembly is coming to an end and working on the top now and i'm in the process of flattening a few plastics. the last step and what will be the longest will be going through everything in the cab.

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Merry Go Round playfield cleaned up and getting ready for touchups. Disassembled the head today to start on the lightboard. Maybe the most cooked backglass I've had so far.

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Picked this up last weekend. Cleaned all the score reels. Had to take a Dremel to all the drop targets to get them to score. All 4 sling switches removed, straightened, contacts cleaned, reinstalled and gapped. Extra ball fixed target at the horseshoe missing and replaced. Had to drill the rivets out to remove the old target. Surprisingly had suitable screws, nuts, and washers to reinstall fixed target on hand. Smoke tested and all functions work as designed. Playfield polish, key line touch up and reassembly to go.

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Looks fantastic!

Wow u guys all do beautiful work.
I'm just sitting here drinking coffee
and loving all these pictures. Works of art!
Thx for sharing.

That is an inspiring post considering I'm in the process of bringing a Big Deal back to life. Your's looks incredible. Great job. Just finished the playfield touchups on mine. Could be much better but its miles ahead of where it started. Check it out. Already restored the back box, bottom control board and bottom side of the playfield. Although I just got a parts order and will be replacing about 30 light sockets.

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/1977-williams-big-deal-barn-find-

Some of the touchups on Big Deal

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Hey EM collectors, looking for any history on a Sof76 machine I am working on. If you have few minutes to check out my post ...
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/gottlieb-spirit-of-76-early-sample-machine-#post-6108777

Very nice

Looks great, Blake! Big Deal is high on my wish list, and yours is really looking nice. Once you’re done, I’d appreciate it if you’d post your touch-up colors on the touch-up paint color thread, if you have them available. I know you’ve been there before, but here’s a link:

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/the-pinside-touch-up-paint-color-thread/page/3#post-6112103

Thanks.

Annual playfield maintenance on all pins in the lineup, check!

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Going through a Gottlieb Golden Arrow right now. I am really glad I purchased a polishing wheel. Things come out amazing!

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Sys1 flipper mech in golden arrow?